Method and system for providing multiple services via a point-of-sale portal architecture

ABSTRACT

A secure point-of-sale (POS) portal architecture for delivering multiple services is provided. According to one exemplary aspect of the architecture, a number of services offered by various parties are integrated for delivery to merchants. The parties offering the services include, for example, payment processors and merchant acquirers and other external value-added service providers. The integrated services, in turn, are offered to merchants and/or their respective customers via one or more POS devices and its supporting system infrastructure at the merchant locations. The integrated services include, for example, acceptance of multiple payment instruments, payment processing, user dialog management, sales promotion and customer support, loyalty programs, back office processing, receipt capture, employee training, risk management, dispute resolution, system security, system administration etc. Moreover, these integrated services may be customized based on a merchant&#39;s particular requirements to provide a specific environment for delivering these services.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/353,800,entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING MULTIPLE SERVICES VIA APOINT-OF-SALE PORTAL ARCHITECTURE” filed on Jan. 30, 2002, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entiretyfor all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a new retail point-of-sale(POS) service architecture. More specifically, the present inventionrelates to a method and system for providing multiple services via apoint-of-sale portal architecture.

With the rapid development of the Internet and e-commerce, currentmerchant point-of-sale delivery systems are at a state of imminentchange. At the center of this shift are consumers with littlediscretionary time and expectations for convenience and personalattention from merchants. Aware of how consumers are viewing commerce,merchants want to leverage these developments, as they always have, toincrease sales, reduce costs and ensure customer loyalty.

Current retail POS systems are essentially static and are ineffective indelivering new personalized services. For the most part, today's POSinfrastructure is designed primarily to facilitate consumer paymentauthorization and provides very limited capability for non-paymentbusiness services. As a result, current POS infrastructure supportsalmost exclusively magnetic stripe debit and credit cards. Implementingnew functionality and services at a current POS terminal is difficult,slow and expensive. Hence, it would be desirable to provide a new POSportal architecture that is capable of delivering new functionality andservices as well as accommodating additional alternative paymentinstruments and devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention takes advantage of the business environmentcreated by the Internet. An exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention integrates a merchant's physical and Internet channels forminga comprehensive point-of-service environment. Furthermore, thisenvironment also allows for the customization of services specific toeach merchant, its customers and/or service provider.

According to one exemplary aspect of the present invention, a number ofservices offered by various parties are integrated at the POS serviceportal for delivery to merchants. The parties offering the servicesinclude, for example, payment processors, merchant acquirers and otherexternal value-added service providers. The integrated services, inturn, are offered to merchants and/or their respective customers via oneor more POS devices and its supporting system infrastructure at themerchant locations. The integrated services include, for example,payment processing, user dialog management, sales promotion and customersupport, loyalty programs, back office processing, employee training,risk management, dispute resolution, system security, systemadministration etc. Moreover, these integrated services may becustomized based on a merchant's particular requirements to provide aspecific environment for delivering these services.

According to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thearchitecture includes one or more POS devices, an in-store applianceserver and a services syndication hub. The services syndication hubintegrates third-party services received from various service providersand configures the integrated services for delivery to the in-storeappliance server. The in-store appliance server, in turn, configures theintegrated services to be delivered to the POS devices so as toaccommodate the different capabilities of POS devices.

Reference to the remaining portions of the specification, including thedrawings and claims, will realize other features and advantages of thepresent invention. Further features and advantages of the presentinvention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodimentsof the present invention, are described in detail below with respect toaccompanying drawings. Like reference numbers indicate identical orfunctionally similar elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating the logical designof an exemplary embodiment of a point-of-sale portal architecture inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating an exemplaryembodiment of the physical architecture of the point-of-sale portalarchitecture in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram illustrating an exemplaryembodiment of the software architecture of the point-of-sale portalarchitecture in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention in the form of one or more exemplary embodimentswill now be described. According to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, a point-of-sale portal architecture (“POS Portal”) isprovided to deliver a syndication of value-added services using Internetbased technologies. In one exemplary embodiment, the POS Portal includesa POS device that supports a browser, an in-store appliance server thatmanages dialogs for the POS device and a services syndication hub thataggregates various services requested by the in-store appliance server.The POS Portal employs Internet connectivity, network and systemsecurity, and universal access control. The use of the POS Portal allowsmerchants and affiliated service providers to configure specificinteractive dialogs and contents for their customers. The POS Portalfurther allows the merchants to tailor the merchandising and thetransaction flows to enhance the customer's shopping experience at thestore. Moreover, the POS Portal provides the functionality to collectand analyze transaction patterns for statistics and risk managementpurposes. The POS Portal also enables the authorization of all majorpayment instruments and supports a variety of authentication methodsincluding magnetic stripe, chip, PIN, and biometric mechanisms.Furthermore, the POS Portal is secure and allows for trust-basedsecurity integration of merchant and service provider systems. FIG. 1illustrates the logical design of an exemplary embodiment of the POSPortal in accordance with the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the logical design of an exemplary embodiment ofthe POS Portal is illustrated. The POS Portal integrates a number ofservices 12 offered by third party vendors or service providers. One ormore of these services 12 may include trade-specialized services offeredby third party vendors including, for example, electronic cash registermanagement, payment authorization, receipt capture, and advertising.Furthermore, one or more of these services 12 preferably conform toindustry standards for web services. These integrated third-partyservices are then offered, in whole or in part, to subscribers such asmerchants. For illustrative purposes, a subscriber may be referred to asa merchant. In other words, subscribers can selectively choose orsubscribe to individual one(s) of the integrated third-party services 12according to their respective business needs. Based on the specificchoice of a subscriber, the POS Portal configures and presents theselected third-party services to that subscriber.

The POS Portal also includes a number of application services 14. Theseapplication services 14 are utilized by the POS Portal to integrate,coordinate, configure and present the third-party services 12 in aseamless manner. For example, one application service includes ametering application that keeps track of the usage of each subscribedservice by a subscriber thereby allowing the subscriber to be billedappropriately. Another application service includes a loyaltyapplication that monitors the usage of each subscribed service in orderto award earned credits or rewards to specific customers or merchants.In addition, these application services 14 may include specificcustomized services requested by a subscriber. For example, a subscriberwho is a merchant may desire to offer the subscribed services for use byits customers or employees in a particular manner to provide branding ora specific “look and feel” that characterizes the merchant's brand andofferings.

As mentioned above, the POS Portal is able to offer the integratedthird-party services 12 and the application services 14 to subscribersin a seamless manner. In order to do that, the POS Portal is equipped topresent the third-party services 12 and the application services 14 tothe subscribers in different manners depending on a number of factors,such as, the subscribers' respective business needs as well as theirrespective system and application requirements including, for example,the capabilities of POS devices 16 used by a particular subscriber.

For example, the merchant experience and business needs may differ dueto the merchant's particular line of business 15. One subscriber may bea merchant in the travel industry while another subscriber may be in theretail business. Since different industries very often have their ownparticular requirements, different subscribers may choose to havedifferent combinations of subscribed services, customization and userexperience.

Services syndication and content distribution may also vary depending onthe subscriber's customization requirements 11. For example, as shown inFIG. 1, a first subscriber may wish to subscribe to services A, B and C,a second subscriber may wish to subscribe to services A and B, a thirdsubscriber may wish to subscribe to only service A, and a fourthsubscriber (not shown) may wish to subscribe to services A, B and C buthave these services delivered in a manner different from that of thefirst subscriber. Even though all four subscribers subscribe service A,service A may be presented differently by the POS Portal in eachinstance. The presentations and rendering 17 of the services at thesubscriber's store locations can be further customized or filtereddepending on the in-store events and the customer's preferences.

In addition, the services presentation may vary due to the hardwarerequirements of each subscriber. A subscribed service may be deliveredin various manners depending on the capabilities of the POS devices 16.POS devices 16 include, for example, a POS terminal, a kiosk, anelectronic cash register and a display monitor.

Furthermore, in some instances, the services presentation may also varydepending on the preferences or behavior of a subscriber's customers 18.A subscriber may choose to deliver different subscribed services todifferent customers. For example, a subscriber who is a retailer maychoose to deliver varying levels of promotional services to targetdifferent customers based on their spending habits.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the physical components ofthe POS Portal. The POS Portal can be conceptually categorized intothree system domains, namely, the POS devices or terminals 20, in-storeappliance servers 28 and a services syndication hub 30, each of whichwill be further described below. It should be understood that thecomponents shown herein merely illustrate an exemplary systemconfiguration and system interactions for each specific domain.Alternatively, for example, some application services of the POS Portalcould be deployed to multiple in-store appliance servers 28 eachsupporting one or more POS devices 20 for performance purposes or otherreasons. Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, a personof ordinary skill in the art will know of other ways to implement thePOS Portal in accordance with the present invention.

The POS devices 20 are located at a merchant or point-of-sale location.Each of the POS devices is configured to deliver one or more of thesubscribed services to a merchant's customers and/or employees. Inaddition, the POS devices 20 are capable of performing a number offunctions including, for example, managing PIN entry, signaturecapturing, content rendering, providing a cash register interface, andfunctioning as a card reader, etc.

At the merchant location, the POS 20 devices are implemented such thatthey are capable of operating in conjunction with a number of existingphysical merchant devices and peripherals. For example, the POS devices20 are able to interface with an in-store network and, alternatively,deliver stand-alone operations in the event of network unavailability.In FIG. 2, a POS device 20 is, for instance, connected to both a cashregister 22 and the merchant's back office applications 24 via a localarea network 26. The system security protection for the POS Portal isprovided by firewalls supporting SSL or virtual private network (VPN),and security modules in the POS device 20. POS devices 20 and thein-store appliance server 28 are digitally certified. Certificate-basedauthentication is used to authenticate the POS devices 20 before theycan connect to the in-store appliance server 28 and subsequently to theservices syndication hub 30. The POS Portal leverages standard Internetprotocols such as TCP/IP, HTTPS, SOAP, WSDL. The POS Portal alsoutilizes the network transport common to the Internet including, forexample, Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL), Integrated Services DigitalNetwork (ISDN), cable modem or wireless broadband connectivity. Thesenetwork access methods provide the digital data bandwidth in the rangeof 64 Kbps to 1.544 Mbps and higher, readily available at most merchantlocations.

The POS device 20 is the primary service delivery component of the POSPortal. The POS device 20 can be configured to deliver specific servicessubscribed to by a particular merchant. The POS device 20 is anintelligent network device, i.e., it can host applications and processtransactions from a wide range of systems and services such as the cashregister 22, the in-store appliance server 28, the merchant's backoffice applications 24 and third party services from affiliatedproviders via the Internet 31. An exemplary embodiment of the POS device20 has the following operating characteristics:

-   an embedded real time operating system-   a built-in Internet browser-   a touch sensitive screen-   audio-   supports a number of peripherals (magnetic stripe, smart card reader    and check readers, keyboards, printers, PIN pad, etc.)-   supports high resolution color graphics and signature image capture-   supports Internet protocols and networking (TCP/IP, Ethernet and    Wireless 802.11b, Bluetooth, etc.)-   interfaces to the electronic cash register environment (ECR)-   supports field upgradeable and network loadable system and    application modules-   supports EMV specifications-   supports PKI based security specifications

In one exemplary embodiment, the POS device 20 has a color, touchsensitive screen that supports signature capture, printers, keyboardsand other peripherals. Furthermore, the POS Portal can be implementedusing Internet technologies and standards thereby enabling easydeployment and distribution of applications. Browser plug-ins,host-based applications and downloadable software components provideregular application updates for the POS device 20. This leads touser-friendly applications that are seamlessly customized to specificmerchant categories, such as grocery, retail, gas stations, restaurantsor other consumer sales outlets.

The POS device 20 communicates with the in-store appliance server 28using the Internet HTTPS protocol. It should be understood that othercomputing devices can also be used in the POS Portal. The POS Portal cantailor the dialogs specific to the respective capabilities of theseother computing devices. These other computing devices include, forexample, electronic cash registers, display panels used for productdiscount offerings or kiosks for activities such as account setup,information inquiry, product or service configuration, etc.

The in-store appliance server 28 is configured to handle communicationswith the services syndication hub 30 and the POS devices 20. Thein-store appliance server 28 acts as the POS service coordinator and POScontent server at the merchant location. For example, the in-storeappliance server 28 receives and manages services supplied by theservices syndication hub 30. The services are then delivered by thein-store appliance server 28 to the POS devices 20 based on the specificrequirements of the merchant. In addition, since there may be differenttypes of POS devices 20 at a merchant location, the in-store applianceserver 28 is capable of delivering the services to the POS devices 20based on the respective capabilities or configurations of the POSdevices 20. The in-store appliance server 28 then further directs thecustomer-POS dialog or interactions that follows the desired transactionflows.

The in-store appliance server 28 further provides flexible integrationwith other components of the merchant's existing systems, such aselectronic cash registers 22 and merchant back office systems 24. Thiscapability allows merchant environments to continue leveraging theirtechnology investments. For instance, the higher bandwidth POS device 20can enable the collection of detailed commercial card data obtained fromthe merchant system. In order to carry out its function, the in-storeappliance server 28 manages a number of integrated services, such as,user dialog management, device management and the interface to themerchant's sales and back office functionality.

As mentioned above, the in-store appliance server 28 communicates withboth the POS devices 20 and the services syndication hub 30. Thein-store appliance server 28 may communicate with the POS devices 20 viaa private computer network, such as, a local area network 26. In anexemplary embodiment, the in-store appliance server 28 is located at amerchant location. Alternatively, the in-store appliance server 28 maybe hosted by a service provider at a location separate from the merchantlocation. As to communications with the services syndication hub 30, thein-store appliance server 28 may communicate with the servicessyndication hub 30 via either a public computer network, such as, theInternet, or a private computer network, such as, a virtual privatenetwork.

In an exemplary embodiment, the in-store appliance server 28 isimplemented for a large merchant utilizing a number of servers whichsupport packet filtering firewalls, routers, load balancing units,application servers for security, performance monitoring and screenpresentation for POS devices. Exemplary characteristics of the hardwareused to implement the in-store appliance server 28 are, for example,high reliability and availability, and support for server clustering andplug and play components. Physical redundancy for processors, memory,disk and power supplies are also included. For a smaller merchant thisconfiguration can be scaled down and still provide basic in-storefunctionality.

The services syndication hub 30 acts as the merchant's gateway tothird-party services, and coordinates the transactions between amerchant's in-store appliance server 28 and the affiliated serviceproviders 31. The services syndication hub 30 is primarily enabled bynetwork connectivity and middleware software interfacing to the serviceproviders 31. The communications between the services syndication hub 30and the third party service providers 31 may be conducted via a privatecomputer network, such as, a virtual private network 32. In general,portions of the service processing are carried out at the data centersof the service providers 31 while the services syndication hub 30performs a packaging and distribution role.

Furthermore, the services syndication hub 30 enforces serviceagreements, operating policies and regulations and rules amongparticipating parties. For example, subscribers are likely to choose tosubscribe different sets of services. The services syndication hub 30ensures that the proper set of subscribed services is delivered to theappropriate subscriber. In addition, a service provider 31 may havedifferent service agreements with different subscribers. As one of itsfunctions, the services syndication hub 30 coordinates a subscribedservice to be delivered to a subscriber according to the terms andconditions of the service agreement with that particular subscriber. Theterms and conditions of the service agreement may specify, for example,the quality and level of service to be provided.

Also, the services syndication hub 30 ensures that the third partyservice providers 31 and the in-store appliance server 28 are incompliance with certain sets of operating policies and/or regulations.One such set of operating policies and/or regulations may be directed tominimum security requirements that need to be satisfied by the thirdparty service providers 31 and the in-store appliance server 28 in orderto achieve end-to-end secure communications or service delivery betweena third party service provider 31 and a POS device 20.

In an exemplary embodiment, the services syndication hub 30 isimplemented using high-performance processors or servers. Preferably,each processor or server has the same core reliability and availabilityrequirements necessarily for a mission-critical data center supporting24×7 operations. The services syndication hub 30 also includesapplication firewalls and proxies that ensure secure and authorizedaccess to all services.

Moreover, in order to manage and provide the integrated third-partyservices, the services syndication hub 30 includes a number ofinfrastructure and application components. For example, the servicessyndication hub 30 includes a suite of applications that provideaggregation, personalization, dynamic distribution of content andconnectivity between third-party services and existing payment systems.The services syndication hub 30 is able to communicate with variousservice providers in order to provide the integrated third-partyservices. These various service providers 31 include, for example,payment processors, merchant acquirers and external value-added serviceproviders. Value-added applications for processors and acquirers caninclude the processing and analysis of customer survey information,administration of loyalty programs, authorization services for a varietyof payment instruments and many others enabled by the POS Portal.Value-added services, such as, signature and receipt images can becaptured and retrieved online for dispute resolution, reducing the timespent on this process by customers, merchants and other parties.In-store training classes can be conducted for merchant staff via theInternet. Advertising and cross selling approaches at the POS Portal canbe implemented as an integral part of the merchant's overall salesprocess. Each system interaction is designed to comply with customerstanding or employee training levels and can be altered based onseasonal sales promotions.

The POS Portal utilizes a computer network, such as, the Internet, toenable a variety of new applications and permit a consolidation ofservice providers. For example, merchants can accept payment instrumentsfrom checks to chip cards to digital cash and receive paymentauthorization from a consolidated source.

Ubiquitous, high speed Internet access provisioning has matured and isconsolidating around a few well-known service providers. Given that manymerchants are just beginning to upgrade their infrastructures to takeadvantage of the Internet, their services can be bundled with apoint-of-service offering. Voice over IP and streaming video enable avariety of merchant applications including back office functions suchas, store security monitoring and real time help desk technical support.

In an exemplary embodiment, the POS Portal and the network connectivityused to link up its various components are largely constructed ofstandard components. One of the benefits of leveraging standardtechnologies and development environments is the ability to readily usetechnology components and value-added services developed by thirdparties.

With the POS Portal, these value-added services can be seamlesslyintegrated into the point-of-service workflow. The modularity of thecomponents allows the merchants and its service providers to assemblethese components to provide the desired point-of-service capability. Asdescribed above, networking, value-added services and information ispackaged around the payment authorization process to enhance revenuepotential.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the software architectureand system components used in constructing the POS Portal. The exemplarysoftware architecture is comprised of four service domains: DeviceServices 50, In-store Services 51, Services Syndication 52 andIntegration Services 53. The software components utilized in theseservice domains are further grouped by their functionality 54:Presentation, Application Environment, Infrastructure, OperatingSystem/Network and Development Tools. The exemplary softwarearchitecture is based on object-oriented component or modulartechnologies. Software component architectures allow pieces of the POSPortal to be developed independently and deployed on a number ofoperating systems. Programming languages such as C++, Java andassociated application development tools enable a highly productivedevelopment environment 65, 75, 85 and 95. Readily available softwarealso plays a role in the POS Portal providing distributed on-lineservices and specialized applications. Each merchant location can deploya variety of the POS Portal software technologies depending on the needsand the technical sophistication of the merchant.

The software architecture of the POS Portal implements standard Internetprotocols such as TCP/IP, HTTPS, SOAP, WSDL as its primary communicationinterface within the POS Portal and with external Integration Services53. The data formats of the POS Portal utilize standard XML schema,HTML, and other industry data conventions for the system compatibilityand interoperability of service offerings. The software components ofthe POS Portal are digitally signed to ensure that they are capable ofrunning securely wherever they are deployed. The certified softwarecomponents also protect the POS Portal against unauthorized or malicioususe of the services. The content and transactional data, XML or non-XMLformatted, are also digitally signed and encrypted to preventunauthorized access. The security architecture of the POS Portalprovides the merchants with the assurance to conduct the business in atrustworthy, secure environment.

On the left hand side of FIG. 3 are the Device Services 50 used todeploy Internet-based applications in this environment. The DeviceServices 50 are designed to operate in the resource-constrainedenvironment of a POS device. Limited screen size, processor capabilityand memory make the price point of the device acceptable to merchantsbut still provide significantly more functionality than today's POSterminals. Special design considerations are examined to both maintainor improve response times for checkouts and inform or collect input fromthe customer or employee. User interface strategy and design arecombined to maximize customer attention span for message delivery andreceipt in accordance with the merchant's customer experiencerequirements.

The presentation functionality of the Device Services 50 is carried outby an embedded web browser 61. From security and language perspectives,the browser supports Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and standard markup andscripting (Cascade Style Sheet (CSS), Extensible Markup Language (XML),Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and scripts). Using Internet standardsallows the browser 61, the web servers 71 at the in-store applianceserver 28 and the web servers 81 at the services syndication hub 30 tocommunicate in a secure, cohesive manner.

The application environment 62 for the POS device is a portable virtualmachine kernel designed for constrained processing capabilities found inPOS devices, cellular phones and PDA's. Applications in this environmentcan be loaded into device memory improving device boot up and responsetimes. The web browser is the primary software component supporting thePOS device's external interface and allows data exchange between POSPortal services, cash register and other applications. Additionalfunctionality provides high-resolution graphics and audio support andability to upgrade software via the network.

A connectivity infrastructure 63 of the Device Services 50 is providedby device driver architecture in the virtual machine. It is flexible anddesigned to support peripherals as well as interfaces to ECRs.Frameworks and tool kits 65 are available to support networking options.

The POS device 20 uses a Real Time Embedded Operating System (RTOS) 64as its system platform. The RTOS performs functions supporting I/O,error handling, system storage management, etc. RTOS is designed forembedded systems and addresses areas of speed, memory size,field-upgrade ability, etc. Total device functionality is split betweenRTOS and virtual machine kernel, allowing each to perform system taskssuited to their respective strengths.

The In-store Services 51 are based on distributed software componentarchitecture and are primarily hosted at the in-store appliance server28. The configurable application environment 72 and its underlyinginfrastructure 73 provide the localized operating platform that meetsthe merchant's specific system requirements. While the POS/ECR interfaceand the back office integrations can be localized, most of the In-storeServices 51 such as device management, payment gateway interface andcontent management work in conjunction with Service Syndication 52 andIntegration Services 53 to form a complete, deliverable service suite.For instance, with the POS Portal architecture, the In-store Services 51are able to support personalization and distribution of content andservices received from the services syndication hub 30 and, in turn,deliver them to POS devices 20. In an exemplary embodiment, contentpresentation, merchant content management, security and business logictailored to the merchant's requirements are typical merchantapplications provided by the In-store Services 51.

In an exemplary embodiment, a standard web server 71 is included as partof the In-store Services 51 to provide the presentation layer forcontent provisioning and service delivery. The In-store Services 51 workin conjunction with firewalls, Service Syndication 52 and POS browsersto provide SSL for security. Standard scripting and markup languages aresupported.

A number of system-wide applications such as device management,personalization, payment gateway are also part of the POS Portal. Onesuch application relates to device management. The POS Portal utilizes anumber of services for device authentication, presentation, monitoringand software download support. In-store Services 51 performs many ofthese services and has the ability to work with the device registrationmanagement of Service Syndication 52 to recognize a target device andits operating environment. Initially, most of the deployed POS deviceswill have known characteristics. Over time, presentation content willcome from disparate parties and the diversity of POS devices accessingservices will increase. The POS Portal architecture anticipates this andcan accommodate this device upgrade life cycle. Using web pages asinput, content rendering software working in conjunction with devicemanagement provides content adaptation according to target devicecapability, security features and network bandwidth. Content adaptationexamples are:

-   Data transcoding to support device capabilities (For example, images    are converted to black and white for devices that do not support    color).-   Data compression.-   Content mode transformation, such as video into frame sets.-   Classification of objects to identify and eliminate redundancy.-   Prioritization of data types for transmission.-   Encryption characteristics.

The POS Portal resolves many of the issues around trouble-shooting andmaintenance of the POS environment. For example, The In-store Services51 have the ability to monitor the quality of service of each device andcan pinpoint problems before they become an issue for the merchant. Onceidentified, repair can be initiated via the network or physical actiontaken. Another aspect of system maintenance is the ability to upgradesystem features via the network. High bandwidth and portable applicationcomponents make this a seamless effort.

Horizontal applications 72, 82 and vertical applications 92 delineatethe application component space in the software architecture of the POSPortal. In general, horizontal applications 72, 82 are core systemcomponents usually constructed by infrastructure providers and supportcommon service requirements regardless of the industry. Each could becustomized for specific uses within a vendor provided framework. Deviceregistration management, content distribution management andpersonalization are examples of horizontal applications. Verticalapplications 92 are software components tailored to a particular tradeand usually built by vertical industry specialists. Loyalty and virtualbranding programs, advertising, manufacturing configuration, hotel,restaurant, retail and travel applications are examples of verticalapplications.

One of the horizontal applications of the POS Portal relates to contentmanagement. The ability to combine content from service providers,merchants and POS applications enables more meaningful interactions tobe conducted with customers. Creation, aging, approving, posting,distributing and refreshing content are workflow processes incorporatedin components which may be developed by vendors for this purpose.

A further horizontal application of the POS Portal relates topersonalization. Personalization enables delivery of customized contentaccording to user profile information. Personalization, both for themerchant and customers, provides the basis for loyalty programs andenables one-to-one marketing programs. It allows a merchant to recognizewhen to supply information as needed and allow customers to choose howand what information they would like to receive. Each dialog interactioncan be logged and analyzed to create an individual profile ofpreferences and characteristics. Information gleaned from a dialogassists in providing a tailor-made product matching individual choice.Developing and managing a variety of profiles is valuable to building apoint-of-sale service relevant to customers and sought after bymerchants.

Security, systems management, directory services, gateways, asynchronousmessaging and data transformation are system services of the POSPortal's capabilities that allow integration of backend services into acoherent customer experience. Many of these services exist at all levelsof the software architecture ranging from the application environmentand the system infrastructure through operating systems and networks.Service location, mutual authentication, non-repudiation and serviceauthorization are also the integral parts of the software architectureof the POS Portal.

Furthermore, the operating systems 94 on the side of the serviceproviders are transparent to the POS Portal. The services and toolsmentioned above are also applicable for Integration Services 53. Thereare other tools that may be implemented depending on the needs ofservice provider integration. For example, a message queuing productthat provides a specific level of guaranteed delivery could be used tosupport non-repudiation or performance requirements for an application.

The POS Portal also includes a number of vertical applications 92. Asdescribed above, the POS Portal is used to aggregate, target anddistribute service provider information and services. In order toperform these functions, the context and supporting systems for theintegration of third-party services are provided by the infrastructure83 and operating environment 84 of the Service Syndication 52 in FIG. 3.These types of context are incorporated into the design of the POSPortal and the integration environment 93 of the service providers. Theapplication platform supports various business interactions defined bythe POS Portal's operating rules and policies. Decisions about privacy,fee structures, dispute resolution, etc., can also be incorporated intothe profile management of the POS Portal.

A vertical application in the POS Portal relates to payment processing.Payment instruments and types accepted by merchants can be expanded andthe POS Portal supports various approaches including, for example,checks, micro payments, digital cash, chip and magnetic stripe cardproducts. Information about payments is collected at various applicationlevels across the system architecture of the POS Portal. The data frompayment transactions collected at the POS device are sent to andaggregated by In-store Services 51. The payment transaction then ispassed to the services syndication hub 30 via the payment gatewayinterface. Upon the receipt of the payment authorization request fromthe merchant, the Service Syndication 52, based on the establishedagreement and roles, chooses an appropriate payment gateway forauthorization and returns the appropriate results to the merchant oncompletion. To interface seamlessly with merchant acquirers, paymentprocessors and card issuers, the Service Syndication 52 emulates legacypayment messaging through vendor provided software that implements dataformat transformations. The transaction data can be used later in theprocessing flow for value-added services, such as, receipt capture,fraud detection, purchasing pattern analysis, etc. if the merchantchooses to subscribe these services.

It should be understood that other vertical applications suiting theneeds of hotels, restaurants, retail stores, travel agencies and othertrades could be built. Each vertical business dialog is different. Insome cases, only an employee will be reviewing information from thesystem; in others, the dialog will be shared by employees and customers;and in yet some others, only the customers will interact with thesystem.

Additional vertical applications when combined with other services canpotentially provide new sources of revenue to merchants. An example ofthis is the delivery of advertising through in-store POS devices,display panels and kiosks. Another application could recognize valuedcustomers and prompt employees to upgrade the services or productsoffered during a sale. Still others could create the capability to setup co-branded loyalty programs between a number of merchants andfinancial institutions.

The application environment 82 of the services syndication hub 30provides the integration of all available services in FIG. 3 ensuring anability to incorporate a matrix of services offered by third partyvendors. As mentioned above, security, system management, directoryservices, content management, gateways and formatting components are anintegral part of the architecture.

Service providers offer an opportunity to extend their offered servicesthrough the POS Portal in a plug and play infrastructure 83. TheServices Syndication 52 uses common Internet technology to link variousservice providers to provide these on-line services. The variety ofservices is not limited but as an example the following can be providedincluding receipt capture, certificate management, advertising, etc.Receipt capture is a service that stores purchase receipt and signatureimage for post-sale retrievals. The information can be retrieved onlineupon demand for dispute resolutions rather than using the conventionalway of scanning or faxing original documents between parties. Salesdocuments can be displayed via a browser and e-mailed between partiesfor references. Certificate management can ease the merchant's burden ofcreating and maintaining certificates used to authenticate devices andcustomers, freeing up employees for other duties. Advertising creation,maintenance and distribution used for POS devices can be performed byvendors that specialize in this area.

Additional services and new payment models and systems that leverage theInternet can be integrated in the POS Portal. Increasingly, a number ofvendors are developing on-line services using web services XML standardsfor the generation and exchange of typical business objects includingpurchase orders, invoices, etc. These can all be used in the POS Portalto facilitate creation, pricing, configuration and support of serviceand goods procurement enabled by the POS Portal.

As described above, the POS Portal of the present invention can beimplemented using both software and hardware. It should be understoodthat the descriptions provided above are merely for illustrativepurposes. It will be clear to a person of ordinary skill in the art thatthe present invention can be implemented in many differentconfigurations and/or manners, using software, hardware or a combinationof both.

It is further understood that the examples and embodiments describedherein are for illustrative purposes only and that various modificationsor changes in light thereof will be suggested to persons skilled in theart and are to be included within the spirit and purview of thisapplication and scope of the appended claims. All publications, patents,and patent applications cited herein are hereby incorporated byreference for all purposes in their entirety.

1-62. (canceled)
 63. A secure point-of-sale system for providingmultiple services, comprising: at least one point of sale (POS) deviceoperable to conduct a business transaction at a store; a servicessyndication hub programmed to integrate a plurality of web services fromthird party service providers; and an appliance server programmed tomanage a subscription to at least one of the plurality of web servicesfor each POS device, the appliance server including: a code module fordetermining a hardware configuration of a respective POS device; a codemodule for determining any customization or preference settings relatingto at least one of the respective POS device and a user of therespective POS device; and a code module for delivering and configuringa presentation of each web service having a subscription managed on therespective POS device based on the managed subscription, the determinedhardware configuration, and any said customization or preferencesettings, wherein configuring the presentation includes generating aspecific interactive dialog for a user of the respective POS deviceintegrating each web service according to a desired transaction flow.64. (canceled)
 65. The system of claim 63, wherein the appliance serveris further programmed to collect and analyze transaction patterns forrisk management.
 66. The system of claim 63, wherein interactions ofeach POS device with the plurality of web services are secure.
 67. Thesystem of claim 63, wherein one of the plurality of web servicesincludes a loyalty application configured to monitor the usage of atleast one of the plurality of web services in order to award specificusage.
 68. The system of claim 63, wherein the plurality of web servicesincludes specific customized services requested by a subscriber.
 69. Thesystem of claim 63, wherein the appliance server is further programmedto configure the presentation of each web service of a subscription fora subscriber depending on at least one factor selected from the groupconsisting of subscriber business needs, subscriber system requirements,and subscriber application requirements.
 70. The system of claim 63,wherein the appliance server is further programmed to distribute contentof the plurality of web services based on customization requirements ofa subscriber.
 71. The system of claim 63, wherein the servicessyndication hub is further programmed to enforce service agreements,operating policies, rules, and regulations among participating partiesin the POS system.
 72. The system of claim 63, wherein the servicessyndication hub includes a suite of applications that provideaggregation, personalization, dynamic distribution of content, andconnectivity to the web services.
 73. The system of claim 63, wherein atleast one of the plurality of web services for a subscriber is to beaccessed by customers of the subscriber.
 74. The system of claim 73,wherein the presentation of at least one of the plurality of webservices to a customer is determined based on past activities of thecustomer.
 75. The system of claim 73, wherein the subscriber is amerchant.
 76. The system of claim 63, wherein the plurality of webservices are integrated and delivered to the appliance server inaccordance with a set of operating regulations.
 77. The system of claim63, wherein the plurality of web services includes a payment processingservice, a receipt capture service, a certificate management service,and an advertising service. 78-88. (canceled)
 89. A secure point-of-salesystem for delivering multiple services, comprising: a servicessyndication hub programmed to integrate a plurality of web services fromthird party service providers; a plurality of point of sale (POS)devices each operable to conduct a business transaction at a store; anda plurality of appliance servers, each appliance server being programmedto manage a subscription to at least one of the plurality of webservices for each POS device, the appliance server including: a codemodule for determining a hardware configuration of a respective POSdevice; a code module for determining any customization or preferencesettings relating to at least one of the respective POS device and auser of the respective POS device; and a code module for delivering andconfiguring a presentation of each web service having a subscriptionmanaged on the respective POS device based on the managed subscription,the determined hardware configuration, and any said customization orpreference settings, wherein configuring the presentation includesgenerating a specific interactive dialog for a user of the respectivePOS device integrating each web service according to a desiredtransaction flow.
 90. (canceled)
 91. The system of claim 89, whereineach appliance server is further programmed to collect and analyzetransaction patterns for risk management.
 92. The system of claim 89,wherein interactions of each POS device with the subscribed web servicesare secure.
 93. The system of claim 89, wherein one of the plurality ofweb services includes a loyalty application configured to monitor theusage of each subscribed service in order to award specific usage. 94.The system of claim 89, wherein the plurality of web services includesspecific customized services requested by a subscriber.
 95. The systemof claim 89, wherein each appliance server is further programmed toconfigure the presentation of each web service of the subscription for asubscriber depending on at least one factor selected from the groupcomprising subscriber business needs, subscriber system requirements,and subscriber application requirements.
 96. The system of claim 89,wherein each appliance server is further programmed to distributecontent of the plurality of web services based on customizationrequirements of a subscriber.
 97. The system of claim 89, wherein theservices syndication hub includes a suite of applications that provideaggregation, personalization, dynamic distribution of content, andconnectivity to the plurality of web services.
 98. The system of claim89, wherein the presentation of a web service to a customer isdetermined based on past activities of the customer.